The Very Special Lesson
by draconichero21
Summary: Princess Celestia receives many letters from Twilight, but one in particular she leaves framed on the wall in the room where she keeps the other scrolls. Why does she do this? What makes this lesson so special and important that all ponies should know and learn it? Read and find out.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: After I saw Wreck-It Ralph in theaters, I had a discussion with a friend of mine about it. We were talking about it, then movies in general and then we started talking about what an MLP movie idea might be like if Hasbro ever produced one. I sat there and thought about it and I finally came up with a grand idea of what an MLP movie might be like. If you follow me on Deviantart, you know what's coming so just skip down to the start. If you don't: history lesson. After coming up with the idea, I posted it on my journal on Deviantart in what amounts to an idea pitch. I figured I'd leave it as is, considering I felt I'd never be able to pull off the idea in fanfic format. Well, unfortunately the writing bug has been biting me where it itches so here I am attempting to pull it off. You may notice I'm not giving any detail regarding the fic, that's sort of the point. I want the same buildup this would've gotten, in my ideal reality, had this been actually made into a movie. So sit back, relax, get whatever it is you would normally get when you read MLP fanfiction, and enjoy...though if you looked at the characters you probably already have an idea what's coming).**

Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is the property of Lauren Faust and Hasbro

* * *

**Equestria**

Princess Celestia, monarch of Equestria, castle located in the pristine city of Canterlot, received many letters from her faithful student Twilight Sparkle and, ever since a certain incident, from other ponies in ponyville as well. As she re-rolled up the scroll she had currently received, she took it with her to the archives where she kept all of Twilight's other friendship lessons. Boxes upon boxes full of scrolls sat in this small closet-sized archive, but Celestia had a feeling she'd need more room as the years went on, but right now the small closet was plenty of room.

However, not all of the scrolls Celestia received were filed away or stacked on a shelf. A while back Celestia had had one particular friendship lesson framed and hung on the wall opposite the entrance. As she put the scroll she had just received in a box to sort it later, she looked at the wall and smiled. The lesson in question Celestia was rather proud Twilight and the citizens of ponyville had learned. It was a lesson she considered important to all little fillies and colts and even mares and stallions whose limbs were becoming old and creaky with age.

Celestia stared at the special lesson and recalled the dilemma that had occurred when she had received it. Though she'd not been there herself, she'd heard stories and her discussion with Twilight Sparkle and those involved helped her feel as if she was really there. The lesson centered on a specific ponyville resident, though was not written by them. If Celestia tried hard enough she could remember it like it was yesterday.

* * *

**Some time ago…**

**Ponyville**

7:59am. That was the numeric readout on the alarm clock in the room of a certain ponyville resident currently sleeping with their head underneath their pillow, sheets all messed up and snoring loudly. The bedroom was for a single pony and the blinds were covered, barely letting in any sunlight. Drawers were open and items were scattered about the floor.

Suddenly the alarm changed to 8:00 and began blaring loudly, indicating its desire for its owner to get up. A gray hoof reached out from underneath the covers to turn off the alarm clock, but wound up knocking it over onto the floor, breaking it as it landed on the hardwood floor with a CRASH!

The gray pony stood up on all fours on her bed, arched her back and spread out her wings, indicating her status as a Pegasus. Half-asleep she strolled over to the blinds and grasped the rope with her teeth to open them. Light shone into the room. The gray Pegasus then pushed open her window to greet the day as she took in the scent of fresh air, letting her blonde mane flap gently in the breeze.

She looked down at the hustle and bustle slowly building in town and announced her cheerful demeanor to the world. "Good morning Ponyville!" she shouted with her hooves still on the window shutters. The gray Pegasus looked down to see two mares walking down the street in front of her two-story house, of which her bedroom occupied the second floor.

One of the mares was mint green unicorn with hair a shade of the lightest pale blue with a white streak running through it. Her cutie mark was that of a harp. The mare alongside her was and earth pony with a cream colored coat with a dual-colored blue and pink mane.

"Morning Lyra! Bonbon!" the gray Pegasus greeted the two mares walking by her house. The unicorn, Lyra, turned her head and waved to the Pegasus on the second floor.

The earth pony, Bonbon, turned her head and addressed the gray Pegasus up on the second floor. "Morning, Derpy," she called to her.

Derpy waved back with a closed eyed smile and then jumped out of the second floor, spreading her wings to take flight only to plummet headfirst onto the concrete below. Derpy got up and shook it off like it was nothing, before flapping off the ground again and diving through the open first floor window. Sitting at the table in the kitchen was an adorable little unicorn filly with a mane and coat to match Derpy's, though with a more colorful tint of gray. She sat on a stool with a bowl of colorful cereal, magically lifting the spoon into her mouth, munching on it with glee. Derpy smiled as she landed daintily on the kitchen tile floor before opening drawer after drawer, as well as the fridge, to make her own breakfast.

The name of the Unicorn sitting at the table was Dinky, Derpy's adoptive orphaned daughter. Derpy adopted Dinky many years ago, back when Dinky's head was bigger than the rest of her. Derpy had never met her special somepony, but she was so enthralled by the loving tender care her mother, Ditzy Doo Hooves, showed her that she wanted her own little filly to shower with love. Derpy was biologically born to her mother Ditzy who, much like Derpy, had a very odd naming convention, though it seemed to run in the family given Derpy's grandparents went by the names Cuckoo, her grandma, and Klutzerton, her grandfather. Derpy was given her name when her mother saw her adorable face on her for the first time. Derpy had contracted a genetic defect from her grandma's side that had skipped Cuckoo and Ditzy, but appeared in Derpy's great grandma: Woo-Woo. Just from the face Derpy got her name.

She grew up looking exactly like her mother and still did, apart from their cutie marks and the bizarre action of Derpy's eyes. Derpy grew up never knowing her father and her mother didn't want to seem to talk about it for some reason and Derpy never bothered to ask. So for Derpy to adopt a filly as a single mother didn't seem quite so odd to her given her mother had done it all her life.

As Derpy closed the cabinet to get out the glass for her milk, she looked back at Dinky sitting at the table and smiled with content as she recalled the day she picked her up from the orphanage.

* * *

**Several Years Ago…**

"So Miss…Hooves," the orphanage director stated as he began the interview with the potential mother. Derpy sat on all fours in the chair behind his desk blinking one eye at a time with a silly smile on her face. "You work as a Delivery mare?"

"That's right," Derpy said nodding overly enthusiastically, "Oh! And I also work part time at Sugar Cube Corner."

"I see and…what makes you think you're qualified to adopt one of the little foals we have here at Sunny Park's Home for Unfortunate Ponies?"

"I've always wanted to shower a little filly with love and adoration just like my mother did to me growing up and look at me, I didn't turn out so bad, did I?"

It was hard for the director not to bring up the obvious regarding Derpy's eye defect, but looking at her records Derpy had never been arrested, always paid her bills on time, had room for a child given the architecture of her home and made a steady salary. He was a little worried given Derpy's rather low income, but he could see the pure mare behind the silly face. He wasn't sure how many ponies at the orphanage would jump at the chance to have Derpy for a single parent, but then he remembered one particular unicorn filly left abandoned at the orphanage's doorstep barely three months ago.

She was always crying and constantly played by herself. He took note of Derpy's coat and mane and thought he had somehow created a match made in heaven. "I think I have just the filly Miss Hooves, follow me."

When the director showed Derpy little Dinky for the first time, Derpy's reaction was…over the top. She leapt off the ground, gasping and galloped over to the small unicorn sitting all by herself in the middle of the toddler's room. The director watched Derpy study little Dinky for a few moments as the little filly sucked on a block she had telekinetically put in her mouth. Derpy began walking around the room and began slowly pushing blocks together. The little unicorn watched this much older pony with interest, still suckling on the little green block in her mouth.

Eventually Derpy had put together a small castle before she then purposely took a step forward, crossed her right leg over her left and stumbled headfirst into small structure, knocking the blocks everywhere with Derpy's head landing where the base of the structure had once been, her eyes rolling around dizzily. The block rolled out of Dinky's mouth and stumbled along the ground covered in drool. The director was about to question Derpy's…interesting performance, but then he heard something he'd never heard from the little unicorn filly before. For the first time since she'd been at the orphanage: Dinky laughed. She laughed loudly and cheerfully. Derpy laughed too and the director was now certain he had made the right decision. Derpy took Dinky home directly after that and she'd been her mother ever since.

* * *

**Present Day**

Derpy flew towards the breakfast table, placing her buffet of pancakes, roasted oats and a peeled orange onto the table. Dinky smiled as her mother sat down as she recalled living with Derpy. She'd always thought of Derpy as her mother, despite knowing that they weren't blood related. She loved her mommy and admired everything about her. To Dinky, Derpy was the perfect role model of everything she wanted to be when she grew up…well maybe not everything. There were some faults Dinky had come to accept from her mother, but they were minor to her, so minor that she didn't care.

After breakfast, Dinky would saddle up for school and Derpy would sling her delivery bag around her neck and don her post-mare hat. She'd then run up to little Dinky from behind and scoop her up and over her head as Dinky landed on her back. Derpy would then fly to school, which was always an adventure and highlighted one of the things Dinky had come to accept regarding having Derpy for a mom. Derpy's cross-eyed nature didn't provide her with the best of vision so she was always crashing into the things. In today's case: a tree. However, she always shook it off like it was nothing and kept going. Some days would be particularly hazard free, but anytime she crashed she'd make Dinky laugh so on some days Derpy would crash on purpose just to make her daughter laugh. Derpy said she had a hard head so it didn't hurt. Although her vision wasn't the greatest, Derpy was a boon at magic eye puzzles so for her that was equivalent exchange.

Once she had dropped Dinky off at school, she'd then rocket across ponyville towards the post office. Derpy's job as a delivery mare was her primary job. Because she was a fast flyer, one of the top ten even, between Cloudsdale and Ponyville, she was one of the post office's most necessary delivery mares. However, because of her bad eyesight and due to being accident prone, Derpy wasn't allowed to carry any fragile packages. Last time that happened she had dropped the display case to be delivered at Carousel Boutique a grand total of five times and done a thorough job damaging it. She had since paid off that debt, but rather than firing her, her boss just switched her to just delivering letters and non-fragile goods. Derpy was fast and he needed fast. Besides, it was her first offense and she was really sorry.

Derpy had the entire morning shift as mail mare and in the afternoons, before picking Dinky up, she had a part time job at Sugarcube Corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake had hired Derpy after she'd brought some homemade muffins to a social gathering. They were a huge hit and the Cakes decided to hire Derpy to bake some every now and then, understanding their marketing value. Derpy made 90% of all profits from her muffins. However while Derpy had never had any disasters at home, as far as anypony knew, she was not allowed to use the Cakes' oven by herself anymore. The last, and only, time she did that, a huge fireball exploded out the back end of the oven, detonating the appliance and the muffins with them as well as demolishing an entire part of the wall and sending a scorching blaze a short distance outside the establishment. Derpy was _still _paying for those damages.

Normally Derpy only worked Weekends or twice a week at her leisure, but today and all throughout the week she had been working right to close to the school bell. Why? Because the annual Muffin Festival was coming up and Derpy knew that she had to bake as many muffins as possible in preparation for the festival.

As the end of the school day drew near, Derpy gave the signal off to Pinkie Pie to finish the batch of Muffin Batter she had already started and flew off towards the school yard. From there she would take Dinky home to let the little filly do her homework while Derpy prepared herself for her final job of the day. At the theater house, Derpy worked as an entertainer. She did a bit with her self-built, self-named, Ultra Super Special Bubble Machine 1006. She had meant to call it 9001, but she had sprayed the paint on that part of the machine upside-down. Dinky told her it was just as cool though.

However, despite its successful structure, the machine had yet to work as intended. Derpy designed the machine so that she would blow into the tube after sucking in a deep breath and a gigantic bubble would burst into numerous smaller ones through the net attached to the open mouth of the cylindrical shaped machine. Derpy had toiled with this machine alongside her daughter, having taught Dinky how to blow bubbles, her special talent, and built the machine in hopes of creating something magnificent. However, all it did now was create a large soapy mess that Derpy would slip and slide all over, sometimes not even on purpose. Dinky would chuckle her little head off because she genuinely thought it was funny and she had recommended to Derpy to use the machine as a performance for the theater house which she knew was hiring new entertainers.

Derpy would constantly make tweaks to the machine, hoping one day it would work as intended and she'd be able to perform a routine she had drawn for herself in the basement of her house where she and Dinky had built the contraption, but all it would ever do is do what it always did: make a big mess and cause Derpy to fall into slapstick. Her routine, though the same every time still got a riot out of the crowd since Derpy's slipping and sliding was never forced. Sometimes the front row would get wet too.

After one particular performance, the owner had to pad the walls after Derpy slammed into one and left a giant crack in it, which cut her pay for the evening. Derpy managed to continue to draw in mares, colts, fillies and stallions eager to hopefully see her machine work as she preached she intended it to do, but so far no luck.

Derpy had two shows, one in the early afternoon, after picking Dinky up, and another after dinner and she would return in the evening an hour before needing to put her daughter to bed in the evening. They would watch television together with Dinky snuggled under her mother's wing or sometimes Derpy would read Dinky a bedtime story. Other times the mother and child might play a board game with one or two rules changed to keep things exciting.

At the end of the day though, between food, mortgage, and other expenses, as well as damages and debts Derpy was finding herself needing to pay at times, she was just barely breaking even, even with her three jobs. One might take a look at Derpy's life and ask if it was worth it, or if she thought that she was breaking her back and getting very little in return.

However, as Derpy shuffled her little girl up the stairs towards her bedroom, she knew there was only one reason she put up with it all, one single solitary reason she needed to get up every morning and do it all over again. She tucked Dinky into bed and flipped the light switch with her wing. Her day was almost over and what made it worth it? What made working three jobs, slipping and sliding on bubble soap, flying all across town to deliver mail, and cooking muffins all worth it?

"Good night Mommy," Dinky called from her bed as Derpy stood in the doorway, "I love you."

_That_ made it worth it. At the end of the day, no matter what she had been through, just hearing those six words from Dinky gave Derpy everything she needed in life. She'd go into her own bedroom from there, get a working alarm clock from out of the closet, set it, program it and go to sleep. Then she'd wake up tomorrow and do it all over again, just to hear that one sentence at the end. For Derpy, her life was perfect. She had all she could ever want, apart from a working bubble machine. She was a simple mare with simple needs. However, unbeknownst to her, her life was not as blissful as it appeared on the surface.

* * *

**The Next Day**

As Derpy waved hello to Bonbon and Lyra as they passed her house the two mares galloped away and around a corner the moment Derpy was inside her house before walking again at normal pace.

Lyra vocalized her displeasure with a grunt and an eye roll, "Ugh, Derpy is so weird. Why do we let her hang around with us again?"

"Because she attached herself to us after you let her eat with us that one time during that one Harvest Festival," Bonbon said with slight disdain.

Lyra gave a glare to her best friend and neighbor. "How was I supposed to know she'd lock onto us like we're her best pals after that? Besides, she just looked so lonely and helpless, I had to do something. You wanna do something about it, say it to her face."

"What? Me? You're the one who keeps telling her we should hang out more."

As could be clearly obvious from anypony listening, the two mares Derpy considered her closest friends only were her friends out of pity.

"I only don't want her to feel bad. I mean, she had to adopt a child because nopony would date her and from what I heard it's because of her eyes, and because she's so prone to accidents as well as the fact that she's pretty out there. I mean if she didn't have anypony to talk to, then I'd really feel bad for her."

And that too.

"But why do _we_ have to suffer for it?"

"Hey you can leave me to my misery if you want. I'm the one who invited her to our table."

Bonbon's expression changed to a happier one. "You know I'd never do that to you." Lyra smiled back.

* * *

Down at the schoolyard Dinky was dropped off by Derpy who flew off for the post office. Dinky turned back around and began bouncing towards her classmates. "Hey, Dinky," Applebloom waved to her. Dinky waved back and began bouncing towards the yellow coated filly.

"Morning Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo."

"How's it going?" Scootaloo asked.

"Oh same old, same old," Dinky said, "You three do your homework?"

"Agh! I knew I forgot to do something last night!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Don't worry," Dinky said, magically removing her bag and unzipping it. "You can copy off of me like before."

"So Dinky," Applebloom said as Scootaloo began copying Dinky's answers down, "Are you sure you still won't to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"Sorry, girls, you know I can't let my Mom down, besides, as I keep telling you, you three are trying too hard. You gotta just let it happen naturally, that's what my Mommy did and look how she turned out."

Applebloom and the others resisted the urge to make worried reactions. Dinky was one of the smartest fillies in school and they didn't want to hurt her feelings considered how high of a pedestal she placed her mother on. As the unicorn had stated, she wanted to make her mother proud of her. The Unicorn had natural born high intellect and wanted to make use of it so her Mom didn't have to spend so much time working and Dinky could help support her and the only way she could do that is if she got a good job as a result of good grades.

Just as Scootaloo finished copying Dinky's homework the somewhat cheery atmosphere had to turn sour with the arrival of Applebloom's self-imposed archnemesis and school bully: Diamond Tiara. "Well, well, well if it isn't Dorky and the Blank Flanks."

"It's Dinky," Dinky glared.

"Whatever," Diamond Tiara said strutting about. "Dorky, Dinky, Derpy, Ditzy, your whole family is weird and your mother is the weirdest of them all."

"At least my mother loves me, unlike some people," Dinky said taking a low blow at Tiara. "Did you fall down the stairs again or did that hoof bruise appear overnight?"

"Sh-shut up!" Diamond Tiara stammered.

"Don't you go badmouthing my Mommy just because of the bad relationship with yours?" Dinky then began strutting with her chest in the air towards the front door. "adiós, almohadón de pezuña."

Diamond Tiara growled. "I don't know what you just said, but I didn't like the way you said it."

Dinky kept walking and just turned her head over her should with a little smug smile on her face before turning back away as she headed inside.

Diamond Tiara continued to fume, "Ooooh, one of these days, Dinky Hooves."

* * *

As Derpy trotted back to the Post Office, having just done her last possible delivery, unless a new one came in during the time it took her to deliver the letter she had just dropped off she made her way about ponyville, humming a tune to herself only to collide straight into another pony. It was an earth pony stallion with an albino coat, brown hooves and a dark red mane. "Ah, I'm so sorry," Derpy apologized, bending down to pick up her delivery bag which had a few blank letters in it for emergencies.

"A-ah, N-no th-that's okay," the earth pony said, shaking it off, "I-I…I…I…" he got an eyeful of Derpy and was drawn to her most notable feature. "Um I…um…eye…I…uh…eyes."

Derpy tilted her head in confusion.

"Have you er…seen somepony about…um…that?" the stallion tried to indicate to Derpy's eyes.

"Oh, you mean my eyes?" Derpy asked, not the slightest bit affected. "They've always been like this. I think they add to my uniqueness. Sometimes I pretend I can hypnotize people if I spin them around fast enough, watch!" Derpy then rotated her eyes around really fast like rotating wheels. She then staggered about. "Ohhhh, why is the world spinning?" she asked before dizzyingly flopping onto the ground. She got up and shook her head back and forth again. "I don't think I've seen you around before, are you new here?"

"N-no, I'm not…I mean…sorry, if you'll just excuse me." The stallion began to walk past Derpy, but then she noticed something on his flank. "Hey what's that?" she asked, hovering over his flank area from the air. She took a look at his cutie mark which was more colorful than Rainbow Dash's hair and designed incredibly blocky like an 8-bit graphic. "Oh that's cool. I've never seen a cutie mark like that before."

"I…uh…" the stallion was growing increasingly nervous.

"Oh wow did you know if look at your cutie mark like this," Derpy said widening her irises, "It kind of looks like…"

"I have to go!" The stallion charged off into the distance.

"Ah! Hey! Wait a second, I'm not finished!" Derpy flew after the charging stallion only to fly headfirst into the sign of Rarity's favorite coffee shop, causing the sign to swing back and forth as Derpy hung from it like a bear skin rug.

Rarity, walking out of the shop with a cup of joe could hear what she considered to be awful creaking and looked up to see Derpy hanging from the sign. "Oh my goodness, are you quite all right Derpy?" Rarity asked her.

Derpy came unglued from the sign and shook her head. "Huh, yeah I'm fine. I was just chasing after this albino stallion. He had a really cool cutie mark. If you look at it with your inner eye," Derpy said, pointing to her ocular nerve, "It makes it look like a muffin."

Rarity laughed nervously. "I'm sure it does, Derpy." Being friends with Pinkie Pie should've had the unicorn prepared for any sort of absurdity, but there were clear differences between Pinkie Pie and Derpy in terms of social behavior.

Pinkie Pie was overly hyper and sometimes never shut up, but she was a good conversationalist when she wanted to be. She did things that, for many ponies clearly broke the laws of Equestrian Physics, and often her energetic behavior led to chaos, though she meant well. However, she did at least have somewhat of a good head on her shoulders, completely aware of her surroundings and all around the friendliest pony and most popular within ponyville as far as anypony knew.

Derpy on the other hand was socially awkward, frequently misunderstood social context and said things that sometimes even Pinkie Pie just had to nod her head and let slide, like her tale about the mysterious swamp monster in Froggy Bottom Bog that breathed sprinkles and was allergic to mint toothpaste. Much like Pinkie Pie, she meant well, often trying to be friendly, but she often did not see how she was butting into social groups she wasn't invited into. However because of her condition, all of the ponies around her treated her kindly, walking on egg shells not wanting to hurt her feelings because the blonde Pegasus was so kind hearted.

"If you see him, let me know. I want to introduce him to Pinkie Pie. I think he's new," Derpy said and flew off towards the post office.

With her job at the post office concluded for the day, Derpy made her way to Sugarcube Corner to continue baking muffins.

"Hey there baking buddy!" Pinkie Pie greeted her as Derpy set hoof into the kitchen. "What recipe are we working on today?"

Derpy pulled a note from out of her satchel. "I want to try out a new recipe from the other night." Derpy put the recipe sheet on the table. The recipe was called "Mud Lava Muffins".

"Mud lava?"

"Yeah see," Derpy pointed to a hand drawn scribble of the finished product, see, "The muffins have liquid chocolate in the center so when you take a bite it oozes all down the side and since the muffin is meant to look like the ground I call it mud lava."

"But it's chocolate, so wouldn't it be chocolate lava?" Pinkie Pie asked. Derpy gave the pink pony an absentminded, confused, head tilted look. "Oh never mind, let's bake some muffins!"

"Yay!" Derpy reared up on her hind legs.

After successfully putting the batter together and getting the batch in the oven, Derpy decided to mingle out in the dining area. She beamed when she saw Lyra and Bon Bon by the door and began to walk over to them. They appeared to be just settling down.

As she walked over toward them though she was flagged down and called for by Twilight, though the unicorn wasn't exactly sure as to Derpy's name so she just called out to her. "Hey, you! Over here!" Derpy looked over at Twilight and indicated herself with her hoof. "Yes, you!" Twilight waved her over. Derpy happily trotted towards Twilight. "Hi, Twilight Sparkle."

"Oh, you seem to have me at a disadvantage, I recognized you because I always see you around, but I don't think we've ever been formally introduced. How do you know my name?"

Derpy laughed happily. "It's hard to find a pony these days that hasn't heard of the name Twilight sparkle, at least within the Tri-stable area. I'm Derpy Hooves."

"Oh…I…I see."

Derpy understood Twilight's potential discomfort. She didn't understand much, but she had a few key details down pat when introducing herself to new ponies. "Oh, don't worry, I like my name. I know how some people think of it because I have the googley eyes," Derpy said as she moved her eyes around, "And I'm always bumping into things," she said as she shook out her hoof, "But my Mom took one look at me when I was born and I was making this face," Derpy said as she stuck out her tongue to the side and made one eye go up as high as possible without straining her eyeball and the other one go as low as possible without straining her eyeball, "And so she thought the name was perfect for me?"

"Oh, I see," Twilight felt a little more relaxed.

"I'd ask you what can I get you, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake don't let me wait tables. Last time I took an order for a large table and I tripped on my way over and everything had to be remade. I guess the floors here aren't as clean as they are at my house."

"That's fine. Actually I'm here with Applejack who invited me to help do some early taste testing for the upcoming Muffin Festival. It's my first one here in Ponyville. I'm not one for a sweet tooth, but Applejack was so earnest in her request I didn't want to turn her down. She said I should try all of the different kinds. If you can't take my order do you have any recommendations?"

Derpy brightened up. "Actually yeah, Pinkie Pie and I just put a batch of muffins in the oven with my new recipe, I'll have her bring out two one the house for you and Applejack to try."

"That would be great, thanks."

"Uh…where is Applejack?"

"Oh she'll be here in a few minutes. She said she might be a little bit considering how far Sweet Apple Acres is from here, not to mention all of the work she has to do in the morning."

"Oh, I see, well it was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too, Derpy."

Derpy smiled and trotted away from Twilight towards Bonbon and Lyra's table.

Lyra gasped when the gray Pegasus headed their way. "Ack, I thought she only worked here twice a week."

"Oh ponyfeathers that's right, the muffin festival is coming up, of course she's be working here every day!" Bonbon exclaimed.

"Okay, no need to get our hindquarters in a twist, remain calm, act natural."

"Hi girls!" Derpy said walking over only for her happy expression to switch to one of concern. "Is everything all right?"

"We're fine," Lyra said, forcing a cheerful smile, "In fact we're just about ready to order."

Derpy was distraught. "Sorry girls, I know you're my best friends and all, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake won't let me wait tables after what happened last time."

"Oh that's okay," Bonbon said, you don't have to bring it to us and it's just the two of us. Can you just bring our order to them?"

"That I can do!" Derpy said getting overly excited. Mr. and Mrs. Cake hadn't said she couldn't do that.

"We'll just have two milkshakes," Lyra said.

"One for each of us," Bonbon added to avoid the catastrophe of Derpy accidentally thinking they needed four milkshakes.

"Right, got it," Derpy said and headed for the kitchen.

"That was close," Lyra sighed.

"I feel kind of bad for needing to insist the fact that we only want two."

"With Derpy anything's possible. Remember the accordion incident two years ago?"

"You said we would _never_ speak of that again!" Bonbon said with dread in her voice.

"Hey!" An exclamation came. Lyra and Bonbon froze as both turned their heads to hear Derpy within earshot, glaring. Both gulped, afraid she had heard them, but then, all too suddenly her expression changed to one of confusion. "What flavors did you guys want again?" Only Derpy would add 'again' despite not having asked for which flavors in the first place.

"Uh, chocolate!" Bonbon shouted out.

"Strawberry!" Lyra added without hesitation.

"Got it!" Derpy beamed. "One chocolate and one strawberry milkshake coming right up."

* * *

**Ponyville theater house**

The albino pony Derpy had run into made his way to the theater house, the director of which was looking for a new act to put on in between Derpy's two shows. The old act of Cloudchaser, a blue pony with spikey blonde hair who could do cool tricks with a really big sword in between his teeth, was moving on to bigger and better things and therefore wasn't going to be able to perform anymore. The white pony had scheduled an interview and made his way to speak with the director.

The director of Ponyville's theater house, Wilbur Shakespony, was a unicorn mare originally from Canterlot with a rather long horn and legs, beige coat and frazzled auburn mane that completely covered his eyes. He was in the back when the albino pony found them. "Mr. Shakespony."

Wilbur turned around to see the albino stallion. "Ah you must be the stallion who sent word to meet with me regarding a job." His high-pitched flamboyant voice betrayed his rather shaggy appearance. "I should let you know I don't hire just anypony into this industry. I'm looking for the next big star," Wilbur stretched out his hooves above his head, "To carry himself to become a wonderful entertainer and success," he put his hooves on the ground, "But alas, I am reduced to hiring the best I can find in this small theater house. What's your name and what can you do?"

"M-my name is Clyde Chucklehead. I'm a comedian."

"Ah, a comedian, we haven't had one of those in the theater house in _ages_! Are you funny?"

"I-I…w-well," Clyde rubbed a hoof against his torso, "Well I did win an award for funniest stallion a few years ago in Tampa Hay."

"You're hired!" Wilbur told him.

"Excellent, I'll get prepared for my act tonight right away. Er that is…I will be going on tonight, right?"

"Oh, but of course, Mr. Chucklehead. I absolutely crave the necessity of players in my theater all evening long and the stallion you are taking over for has been absent for three weeks. Please, make yourself comfortable, I will add you to the roster right away!" Wilbur galloped away towards his office.

"Wonderful," Clyde said with an evil grin as his eyes glowed red for a moment. He chuckled to himself momentarily.

* * *

**That Evening**

After Derpy put on her first show, another failure for her machine as always, she made her way backstage, still slipping and sliding all over the place, as her hooves were still soapy and she crashed right into poor Clyde.

Derpy shook it off, spread out like a bear skin rug again until she noticed she was on top of the person she had crashed into. "Sorry, I'm sorry!" Derpy said, taking flight. "I didn't see you there and my performance just ended and—hey!" She recognized him and landed on the ground. "You're that stallion I saw earlier today. I didn't get your name."

_Oh great, her!_ "I-I'm Clyde…Clyde Chucklehead. I-I just started working here tonight I'm on next."

"That's great, you'll like it here," Derpy said with a smile with her eyes closed, "Mr. Shakespony is a really good boss. I have another performance after this if you care to watch."

"Umm…sure…I guess," Clyde said finding it hard to deny such an innocent request.

Derpy went over to the metal lunchbox she had brought with her. She opened it and popped the muffin inside into her mouth. Clyde smelled the warm succulent scent of toasted sugar and was drawn to Derpy's snack box. He was salivating as he hunched over her shoulder looking hungrily at the muffins.

"Oh, do you like Muffins?" Derpy asked. "Here, you can have," she asked holding onto the one muffin she was eating and handing him the box with the other four, "I can always make more."

Clyde tore into the muffins like a wild beast, devouring them like a creature with lots of sharp teeth you shouldn't feed after midnight. He realized his bad eating habits and looked at Derpy who had stopped putting the half-eaten muffin into her mouth. He swallowed all of his food. "S-sorry, it's just…I really like muffins is all."

"I can tell, your cutie mark looks like a muffin a little bit so…"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Clyde sweated shaking his flank. "M-My flank is just a multicolored boxey-thing."

"But if you use your inner eye…oh are you bad at magic eye puzzles?"

"H-huh?" Clyde was confused.

"It's okay if you aren't. Not everpony can do it well. I like magic eye puzzles a lot though. One time I saw one that was colored really pretty with all sorts of reds, yellows and pinks and greens and when I looked at it real closely it turned into a Dolphin. It was really cool."

"U-um…that's interesting. I…uh…"

"Oh! If I'm staying here to watch your act, that means I have to order in for Dinky. Oh, wait, is your routine foal friendly, maybe I'll bring her along for tonight."

"You don't really need to. Um…"

"I'll be right back. I hope I'm not late." Derpy tore into the air only to crash into the ceiling. "I'm okay!" she called out and then pushed open a window near the glass roof and made her way home.

Derpy settled things at home and came back to watch Clyde's routine. She came in on the tail end of a joke and since everypony else was laughing she laughed too. She listened through the rest of it, enjoying the routine. Clyde was really funny.

"So one year I worked as a camp counselor for little fillies in Manehattan and I never did it again because little fillies in Manehattan are so _bratty!_ For example, we were supposed to go on a nature trail and I said 'Hey who's ready to go on a half-mile hike'. At that point I just opened up the floodgates for the fillies to take pot shots at each other like it's a wing or horn comparing contest." A few chuckles escaped the audience at the comparison as the bit continued with Clyde pretending to be a different filly with every changed sentence. "Uh, I went on a two mile hike. Uh, I went on a five mile hike and I wasn't even tired. Yeah, well my dad competed in the Manehattan walk for hoof cancer and I had to carry him the last ten miles." The audience laughed at the absurdity. Clyde returned to his normal voice. "I'm like fillies you're eight, get your juiceboxes and let's get going!" Everypony laughed.

Clyde concluded his routine with. "And the dragons think they're so high and mighty, walking around, breathing fire or whatever kind of breath they have." He wiped his hoof in front of his face. "Do those things brush at all?" Laughter sounded through the hall. "But seriously, they might think they're all that, but when push comes to shove we all know we've got them horsewhipped. How do I know? Well, why else do you think we call them yellow bellies?" The audience was in uproar. "Thank you ladies and gentlecolts you've been a wonderful audience, goodnight!"

As Derpy headed back stage to ready her bubble machine she complimented Clyde on a job well done and told him he was really funny. "Yeah…thanks."

Clyde could only laugh as Derpy floundered yet again with her failed bubble machine only to notice that all of the ponies seemed to be laughing at her as Derpy was blissfully oblivious to their schadenfreude induced laughter. That evening he went to the space he was renting out with the Rich's speaking with Filthy Rich long after Diamond Tiara had been put to bed.

"I saw your performance tonight. You're as funny as I've heard Mr. Chucklehead."

"Oh please, call me Clyde," Clyde told him. "Thanks again though for letting me stay with your family Mr. Rich."

"Oh no, no, no the pleasure is mine. Anything for a friend of my sister, Lotta."

"By the way Mr. Rich, what's the deal with that gray Pegasus?"

"Gray…Pegasus?"

"The one with the weird eyes."

"Oh, her. She's an oddball that one," Rich said, taking a sip of his wine, "The sooner you learn to accept her presence the better. She's not going away any time soon."

"Why do you say it like that? She doesn't seem that bad."

"She's not, but she's so strange, but nopony here is mean enough to say it to her face. The poor thing, blissfully unaware of the world around her and how it sees her."

"Interesting," Clyde said with a smirk as he loudly sipped his wine.

* * *

**The Next Evening**

Despite wanting to see Clyde's performance again, Derpy didn't want to leave Dinky home for two nights in a row and she was certain he must repeat a routine every once in a while. She'd get to hear them all eventually. Derpy and Dinky were finishing dinner when Derpy happened to take note of the clock. "Up, I have to get going. You know the rules Dinky, right?"

"Don't let anypony in that I don't know that Mommy hasn't told me is coming by. Don't leave the house unless it's an emergency and don't go into Mommy's room either."

"That's my girl!" Derpy nuzzled and pecked Dinky on the forehead before heading out for work again. When she arrived she was just coming in on the tail end of Clyde's routine, who had seen her walk in the door and head for backstage. He smirked to himself, ready to put his plan into motion.

"Okay, okay, but enough about my last trip to the Broncos. I'm sure everypony here knows about a very special pony here in Ponyville by the name of Derpy Hooves, am I right?" Cheers from the audience could be heard. Derpy smiled as she continued to tweak her bubble machine in hopes that it might work this time. She would give it a few short cranks of the wrench, figuring Clyde was wrapping up his bit and letting her come on stage.

"But has anypony noticed just how weird she is?" Derpy stopped mid-twist with the wrench in her mouth when she heard this. "I mean for evidence look no further than her eyes. Is she looking up, down, left or right? Oh wait, she's probably just trying to pretend she's paying attention, but her eyes are a dead giveaway that nobody's home." Everypony laughed. The wrench dropped from Derpy's mouth in shock. Clyde continued. "Seriously though it _is_ a good skill," he paused, "If you wanna look like a freak show." The audience roared.

"Th-that's not…" Derpy stammered, deeply hurt.

"Also I heard she broke a floor just by sitting on it. Well I guess we all know where that muffin weight goes." Derpy felt like she might cry.

"And everypony, please…tell me I'm not the only one who's noticed this. Surely it should be obvious that the reason she had to adopt is because one weird-eyed pony is enough for this neighborhood, am I right?"

Derpy was now deeply depressed and gravely emotionally wounded as the mean-spirited, hurtful jokes continued for what felt like hours, but didn't even exceed ten minutes. "Ah, but that's enough folks, let's let the old mare come on out and slip and slide all over the stage, just like my ex-wife."

The spotlight panned stage right, but Derpy did not emerge, not at first. It was a short while before she exited onto the stage looking downtrodden and miserable. Her mane was drooping as much as she was. She didn't even have the bubble machine with her. She just sat her plot down center stage as the spotlight focused in on her. For a few moments Derpy didn't move. She didn't say anything or make any noise, at least until what sounded like tearful sniffing echoed through the theater hall.

"So that's it huh? That's how you all really feel?" Derpy asked, sounding sadder than a grieving widow. "I'm just the special pony that everypony pities? I'm the everymare that gets talked about behind her back because she's different? You act like you want me to come forward and be one of the crowd, but you don't like me at all do you? I'm just a source of comedy for you all aren't I?" Derpy picked up her head, tears were threatening to fall. She was doing her best not to break down in front of the audience. "I thought you loved me!" Derpy shouted and then took off and exited through the front doors of the theater, smashing them apart at the hinges like the impact brought upon by a runaway truck. Tears streamed behind her as she flew all the way home and crashed through the second story window onto her bed, hitting it head first and flopping onto her stomach on the opposite side of it from which she had entered. She covered her eyes with her hooves and began to cry. She had never been so hurt in all her life. Derpy had never felt so betrayed. For years she thought everypony considered her just like every other pony, but she couldn't have been more wrong.

Dinky, downstairs, heard the crash and galloped up the stairs. She grabbed the plunger from the bathroom, magically levitating it in an attempt to use it, believing a burglar entered her house. She knew she wasn't supposed to enter her mommy's room when no one was home and it was best for her to dial 911, but she had to investigate first. She pressed her ear to the door when she heard crying from a voice that sounded awfully familiar.

Using magic she turned the knob and opened the door. From the light shining into the dark room, Dinky could see her mother sobbing on the ground. "Mommy, what are you doing home? What happened?" She paused briefly and then added. "And why are you crying?" Derpy didn't answer or address Dinky, she just continued to cry. Dinky didn't know what to do to help her mommy. She had never seen her like this. She felt she could at least start by dropping the plunger. She then walked over to her Mommy and nuzzled her before settling down next to her.

Dinky had no idea what was bothering her Mommy, but she wanted her Mommy to know that she was right beside her.

* * *

**One Week Later**

For the next several days Derpy was not quite herself. For starters she flew with her head down as though she was ashamed simply for existing. Dinky's rides to school were rather boring, she was worried. At work Derpy seemed unenthusiastic at both the post office and Sugarcube Corner. Even Pinkie Pie dumping a bag of flour over her head couldn't lift her spirits.

At work she even asked if she could do some letter filing, the most boring job in the office. When asked why she was volunteering for that duty Derpy's response was, "Somepony has to do it."

Dinner was somewhat saltier than normal, mostly due to the fact that Derpy was crying whilst she cooked. She refused to do her performance job, of course. And of course, Clyde was not getting off easy with some of the name calling during his routines, even making fun of other ponies, though none of his jokes about them were as mean-spirited or derogatory as they were towards Derpy.

By the end of the week Derpy had finally made up her mind of what to do. Saturday evening, Twilight received a knock on her door. She opened it to reveal Derpy, carrying a rucksack with her wing, and Dinky sitting in a wagon with an overnight bag amongst other things one would consider "the essentials" in it.

"Derpy?" Twilight asked. "Is everything okay?"

"It's not, nopony likes me and I'm so fed up with it all."

"That's not true, I still like you."

"You're only saying that to make me feel better. I see right through you, Twilight Sparkle!"

"Derpy what are you talking about?" Twilight had been so absolved in her books and studying that she'd never taken a proper look around ponyville and noticed the change in the atmosphere surrounding one gray Pegasus.

"You know what I'm talking about, but…it's okay, I understand." Derpy went over to the wagon and clasped the handle with her mouth and dragged Dinky towards Twilight. She looked at Twilight. "I know it's selfish of me to ask, but I want you to look after Dinky for a while."

"Wha—but Mommy you said we were just visiting Twilight," Dinky said, alarmed.

"I'm sorry Dinky, especially for lying to you, but…you deserve better than me for a role model."

"I don't understand," Dinky said, distraught, "Mommy, what's wrong?"

"You'll understand when you're older," Derpy kissed Dinky's horn, "Please forgive me."

"Derpy, I really don't think this is necessary."

"I've thought it over," Derpy said and walked away sadly away from the library and away from Ponyville. "This is what I've decided to do."

"Mommy, no!" Dinky jumped out of the wagon and ran after Derpy, biting her tail. Derpy looked lazily back at Twilight who understood and used her magic to pull Dinky towards her. Dinky flailed her hooves towards Derpy as she continued to walk away.

"Be good to Twilight, Dinky," Derpy told her. "There's a lot you can learn from a unicorn like her. She's sensible, intelligent, she's a unicorn like you," Derpy's eyes filled with tears as she stood facing away from the library. "And she'll be a better role model for you than I ever was." Derpy then took off into the air.

Dinky chased after her. "Mommy! Mommy! Don't go! Mommy, come back! Don't leave me!" Derpy soared higher and higher into the air. "Don't leave me, Mommy! Come back! I love you! I love you, Mommy!"

Derpy's lip quivered and tears followed her as she flew off away from ponyville and out of sight.

Dinky sat on her plot and her lip quivered before she burst into tears. Twilight walked over to her and did her best to comfort the little filly.

From the second floor of town hall, Clyde watched Derpy soar off into the distance, "There she goes," he smirked like the devil himself, "All according to plan."

**To be continued…**

* * *

**(A/N: So as you may have guessed by now, this fic is about Derpy. I've designed it in such a way that I think that, if the writers of MLP put their minds to it this would be the way to go to not only confirm Derpy as she is, but also keep the people who are "offended by her" off their backs. As you can tell this is only the first part and the rest of it is on its way, if not already done. But anyway, now the ch summary: Poor Derpy, huh? I wanted to establish her as a character that is just socially awkward and oblivious to the fact that the other ponies find her weird. I also wanted to make it so that Dinky was her adopted child on purpose to prevent the messiness of "Who's the Father?" because that's not the point and also add to the trauma when she leaves Dinky behind and Dinky begs her not to go because to the little filly Derpy **_**is**_** her mom. On top of that, I really liked writing that whole beginning and establishing that Derpy breaks her back **_**just**_** to hear Dinky tell her she loves her at the end of the day. If this was animated parents would be gripped as much as their kids. And in case you couldn't tell, Derpy's whole speech before she leaves the theater is supposed to be a sort of leaning on the fourth wall given how negatively some people responded to her once she opened her mouth. I wanted to get in a scene with Derpy and Rainbow Dash, but I like how this is set up right now so I guess later when the two confront I'll just reference Last Roundup. Also the sad truth of all of this is that many people with disabilities like myself [I have ADHD] don't realize the mean things people think of them behind their back. In a sense I guess that means you can say this is based off of personal experience. I'm pretty sure most of you know what the lesson is I'm trying to pull here, but for those of you who are slow I'll let the remainder of the fic speak for itself. Till next time my fellow bronies, till next time).**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: And welcome back. Now for those of you who want to share this with others, I want to be perfectly clear about something: Don't tell anyone you're going to share this with that it's about Derpy. Why? Because I want this to have the effect I envisioned it to have if this was done properly as a movie set-up. As I may have mentioned before, this was my idea for an MLP movie that I turned into a fanfic. If this was a movie, to avoid stirring up the anti-Derpy rage, it would be wise of the marketing and advertising department NOT to use her in the trailers, or at the very least show that she's important to the plot. The movie would flow exactly like it has, barring padding on the off-chance this is too short, and Derpy, once established, ceases to be an offense to people with stereotypes and turns into an inspiration not just to them but to single mothers and she really suckers in the loving parents that dote on their children. Figured I'd double wham that one. The sheer shock value that she's important will drive the bronies wild with "OMG DERPY!" So, with the establishment of her this way, there is a single one-sentence counterargument for any anti-Derpy individual that still finds her offensive "Did you watch the whole thing?" So yeah in my ideal society this would be what would happen and I would love if this was actually turned into the actual MLP movie, but sadly, my luck is about on par with Rainbow Dash's in most cases. Now then, I'll stop rambling and you guys can read more of this).**

Disclaimer: My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic is the property of Lauren Faust and Hasbro

* * *

**A Few Weeks Later**

"Hey! Get up! Get up! Get up!" Energetic and well rested, Dinky jumped on Twilight's bed to get her up. As usual, unknown to Dinky, Twilight had spent most of the night studying and therefore was _not_ a morning person. Dinky then began to run around the room like a gerbil on caffeine. Twilight sighed as she gave into Dinky's game of cat and mouse, and not take the cheap way out, like she did the first time, of just grabbing Dinky via magic. The chase would continue until Twilight smacked into the library wall or caught Dinky between her hooves. After that, Twilight would escort Dinky to school, then return to the library and take a nap to get the rest of her sleep before studying a little while more before promptly picking Dinky up and taking her back to the library.

From there Dinky would quietly do her homework and Spike would entertain her while Twilight was busy with experiments and studying. Occasionally Twilight would let Dinky help if she felt the experiment was safe enough. Derpy had entrusted Dinky's safety and well-being to Twilight. Even if Derpy was never coming back, and even though it had been forced upon her, Dinky was Twilight's responsibility and she took it seriously. Of course, putting up with Dinky for as long as she had now, Twilight was beginning to wonder just how Cadence managed to do it all the time. It was a surprise the alicorn still had a mane left and didn't magically yank it all out in frustration.

Twilight's days certainly were not as exciting as Derpy's since she spent most of her day indoors reading, studying, experimenting or otherwise, occasionally leaving the library to run some errands. However, at the end of the day, no matter what she had done, no matter how tricky an experiment may have been or how mind numbingly she had studied, the end of the day was always the hardest.

When Dinky's curfew rolled around, Twilight would tuck her to bed in the wagon Derpy had brought her in and Dinky would always ask, "When's Mommy coming back?"

And Twilight would answer: "Soon, Dinky, I promise." However, in reality, Twilight had no idea if Derpy ever had any idea of returning to Ponyville at all.

Far away from Ponyville, Derpy was walking along the road with tired wings in hopes of joining the circus. She figured it was the best place for a "freak of nature" like herself. Dinky wouldn't understand, that's why she had to lie to her and force her with Twilight. She couldn't bear to tell Dinky the truth. She had tried to make it as painless as possible for her little girl. And yet, every time she thought about it, her tummy always hurt and Derpy would feel like crying. One of the things in Derpy's rucksack was a picture of her little girl. Derpy would smile while she looked at it. It was her only source of joy on the cold empty road of Equestria.

Above her the sky clapped with thunder and Derpy made her best towards shelter only having the option to use the overhang of a riverbed to avoid the rain. She laid down on her rucksack and fell asleep, shedding a tear as she parted from consciousness.

* * *

**The Next Day**

As Twilight and Dinky walked to school, Twilight started to notice all of the laughter being sent her way. She tried her best to ignore it, but Dinky was finding it increasingly irritating. At the schoolyard, Diamond Tiara reared her ugly head to exact some long awaited revenge. She'd waited awhile before approaching unicorn filly, wanting to perfect her warfare against her.

She approached and opened with: "So Dinky, what's it like knowing that your loving mother abandoned you out of shame?"

"That's not true Diamond Tiara. She…she just needs some time to find herself."

"You keep telling yourself that, but we all know the truth. Your Mommy is a freak and that makes you a freak as well. Everyone's laughing at Twilight Sparkle because she has to take care of a charity case like you. So what's it like Freak Flank?"

"When my Mommy gets back I'm going to tell her you said this."

"Wake up and smell the flowers, Dorky, your Mommy isn't coming back, ever!"

"That's not true! Twilight said Mommy would come back!"

"Your mommy would be too ashamed to ever show her face here ever again. Face it, you're the daughter of walking glue." It was the most ugly insult anypony could ever call another. It was the equivalent of a human calling another human the lowest level of mentally disabled and sometimes used to refer to the elderly who had finally lost the last of their marbles.

Everypony gasped and nopony could recover from the shock fast enough to stop what happened next. In a rage Dinky galloped as fast as her little legs would take her, turned her hind legs in Diamond Tiara's general direction and then bucked the pink pony in the face as hard as she could. Diamond Tiara was sent hurtling away and her signature tiara came off her head in the process.

"Don't you tare talk about my mommy like that. Nopony says that about my mommy, EVER!" Dinky exclaimed, tears in her eyes. "And if anyone else says such a rude and horrible thing about her," Dinky's horn flashed yellow, "Don't forget that I'm a unicorn that knows basic magic and I know how to use it!"

"What is going on out here?" Miss Cheerilee exclaimed dashing out to see the commotion.

Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all tried to explain what had happened to Miss Cheerilee at once. "Girls! Girls! Settle down and _calmly_ tell me what happened."

"Diamond Tiara was picking on Dinky again, saying bad things about her mama," Applebloom began.

"And then she called her walking glue," Scootaloo continued.

"We were all really surprised and then Dinky got really mad and bucked Diamond Tiara in the face."

"I…see," was all Cheerilee said. She was standing with her eyes closed, but everypony that was her student could tell that she was livid at the moment. "Diamond Tiara, let's go get you some ice. Dinky I want you to stay here. Every other pony please head inside and take your seats." She spoke so crisply and still kept her eyes completely shut that everypony did as she said.

Miss Cheerilee came back outside to speak with Dinky privately. They were now alone in the front schoolyard. The school teacher seemed to have calmed down a decibel, but she was still plenty mad and very disappointed in Dinky. "Dinky," she said, "What is the rule about physical violence in school?"

"Never use it against another pony unless they used on you first," Dinky quoted, "But Miss Cheerilee—"

"No buts," Miss Cheerilee spoke firmly, "I've already spoken to Diamond Tiara about using filthy language like…walking glue. That still doesn't give you the right to buck her in the face."

"But Miss Cheerilee—"

"I don't want to hear it, Dinky," Miss Cheerilee scolded, "Rest assured I'm going to have a long talk with Mr. and Mrs. Rich about this. I'd do the same with you, but…Twilight isn't your legal guardian, you're just staying with her, therefore I can't talk with her about this like I would your mother. Instead, you will stay after class and you will serve discipline the old fashioned way: writing on the board. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee," Dinky mumbled.

"Good, now go inside. I will have a talk with Twilight during lunch break to let her know that you'll be a while after class is over. Now go inside and let's try to have a lesson like nothing happened, okay?"

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee."

When Dinky was finally escorted home in the evening, she was ready for Twilight to lay into her. Twilight had heard about it from Applejack who had heard about it from Applebloom. All she said when she picked Dinky up was "We'll talk about it at the library."

Upon reaching her tentative home, Dinky hung her head and prepared to be yelled at, but Twilight did nothing of the sort. "I'm not going to yell at you, since it's not my place, but I am going to tell you what I think." Dinky picked up her head. She could sense no malice in Twilight's voice. "First and foremost, I think it was good that you stuck up for your mother. She would be happy to know that you still think of her so highly. However, kicking people in the face isn't appropriate behavior. I know what Diamond Tiara said is inappropriate language, but that doesn't give you the right to kick her in the face."

"But she made me so mad!"

"I know. I can imagine how you must have felt. I would've done the same if I was in your shoes and somepony said that about somepony I cared about. You know you did wrong, but since I'm not your legal guardian and I'm just your temporary caretaker it's not my place to punish you. However, I'm going to ask: what would Derpy do if you misbehaved?"

"Mommy would send me to bed early or not let me have dessert or she'd send me to my room."

"Well since you really don't have a room here, what I want you to do is pick one of the two and stick to it. You know you did wrong so do the right thing and properly discipline yourself. I'll make sure you follow through."

"I'll go to bed early then."

"Alright then, then I'll set your curfew for eight-thirty rather than nine."

"Twilight, is Mommy really going to come back?"

"She will, Dinky. Your mother is too good of a pony to leave you behind forever. Of that I'm certain."

"Why do so many ponies think Mommy's weird, people are now starting to think I'm weird too because she raised me and now it's getting to you too because you're taking care of me."

"It's called prejudice," Twilight told her.

"Prejudice?"

"Ponies judge other ponies unfairly just because of what they are or how they act and the people associated with them. It's as ugly a concept as 'walking glue' is an ugly name."

"But why are ponies prejudice?"

"It's just equine nature Dinky. It's too complicated to explain."

Dinky started to cry a little. "What's wrong with being a little different? All ponies are different. Mommy always liked her eyes and she liked her name. She was proud of it and she was always proud of herself. I don't care what she says." Dinky shut her eyes and exclaimed, "I still want to be like her when I grow up!"

Twilight grabbed a tissue with her magic and used it to wipe Dinky's eyes. "And that's why she'll come back, because you haven't given up on her. Just give it time Dinky, she'll come around."

"Thanks, Twilight."

"That's what I'm here for."

* * *

**A few days later**

Unfortunately not much changed even after all was said and done, but Dinky learned to have a thicker skin and not succumb to the prejudice she was put through. She intended to walk with her head high with pride, ignoring the neigh-sayers and ponies who looked down upon her. She knew who she was and she wasn't ashamed of it. She was Dinky Hooves and happy to call herself such.

The problem was that today was the day of the Muffin Festival and Derpy had yet to return. Muffin production was plentiful, but nowhere near as good as it would have been had Derpy been around the last few weeks. Still the festival was bountiful as ever. Unfortunately, Dinky was not in a festive mood and Twilight understood why. She sat there staring at a muffin on a coaster as she and Twilight sat at a festival table and all the little filly could see was her mother projected over it.

"Mommy always loved the Muffin Festival. It was her favorite time of the year. She always looked forward to it ever since she was a filly, she said," Dinky told Twilight.

Twilight said nothing in return. She had no idea how to lift Dinky's spirits in the slightest. She looked around everypony seemed to be enjoying themselves for the most part. Rainbow Dash was bobbing for apple muffins and Applejack was helping with the sales alongside the Cakes. Pinkie Pie was up to her usual antics and Fluttershy was doing her best just trying to purchase one muffin, but having a hard time being heard over the roar of the crowd.

"Hey Dinky, Twilight," Twilight looked past the filly she was with to see Rarity and Sweetie Belle together.

"Oh! Rarity, Sweetie Belle, how are you two?"

"Rather well, actually," Rarity stated. She looked at Dinky. "Is the little one not well?"

"No, she's just sad because her M-o-m isn't here and she loves the festival."

"I know how to spell, Twilight," Dinky said with minor irritation, causing Twilight to cringe.

Rarity sat next to Dinky and put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "There, there darling, don't be blue."

"But I'm gray," Dinky stated.

"What Rarity's trying to say is, you don't need to be so depressed. Your mother would want you to have fun. Imagine if she was sick today instead of not being here, wouldn't she want you to be out having fun?"

"I guess so," Dinky stated, "But I can't just pretend. It hurts too much."

Both Twilight and Rarity showed looks of concern. Nopony said a word for about a minute until the ground began to shake and suddenly a shadow shot up from beneath the table and sent Rarity, Twilight and Dinky tumbling to the ground. The large shadow took form and rose to become taller than Equestria's highest building as dark, foreboding clouds appeared over the normally quiet town. The shadow was cunicular in nature with its ears and hands, but had no feet and just was a mass of shadow towards the bottom and its face wouldn't look out of place on a Nightmare Night Jack-O-Lantern without a nose.

"Finally, I've been so patient waiting for this festival to come. All these muffins I've bought have let me return to full power."

"Full Power, what's it talking about?" Twilight asked.

Dinky shook her head and looked up. She could tell as she looked up at the monster that the shadow was not lucid like most shadows and actually made up of several block shades of black. "Wait so it's…WAAAH!" Dinky screamed as the monster hoisted her up into the air. It laughed.

"Wa ha ha! I've got you right where I want you my little filly. You're not going to tell anyone about my secret." The monster talked with a deep booming voice. It then reached down with its massive hand and dumped a whole cartful of muffins into its mouth, expanding and growing. "Up here your tiny voice will never reach the other ponies to tell them my true form."

"True form? What are you talking about?" Twilight demanded to know. "What are you?"

"Can't you tell? It's me, the funniest stallion in Tampa Hay."

"Clyde Chucklehead?" Twilight gaped. "But you're an earth pony."

"Clyde Chucklehead is an earth pony, but I am not he. I am the devourer, gobbler of goodies, scarfer of sweets. I am ponyville's end!" Lightning cracked and set a house on fire. "I must commend you all for not having any care towards your fellow mare. It made running that wonky-eyed equine out of town rather easy."

"I don't understand," Twilight shouted as the wind picked up, "What does Derpy have to do with this?"

"She is the only one capable of revealing my true form, so I was incredibly wary of her as a result, but now she's gone and now nopony can stop me." The shadow monster reached down and grabbed another cart full of muffins before letting a blast of freezing cold air out of his free hand.

"Muffins make him stronger, but what kind of creature gets stronger by devouring muffins. And what did he mean by Derpy revealing his true form?" Twilight panicked. She ran around as her friends all met up in the same place.

"Guys, I think I figured out a plan. We need to find Derpy! That thing said something about Derpy being able to reveal its true nature. I think it has to do with the fact that Derpy is good at magic eye puzzles."

"Oh, but the poor dear must be a thousand miles away by now, whatever shall we do?"

"Oh no!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "What do we do? What do we DOOO?"

"Panic?" Fluttershy asked.

"That's your answer for everything."

"We are not going to panic," Twilight stomped her foot. "Rainbow Dash, fly off and see if you can't spot Derpy. You're the fastest pony in Equestria so you're the best shot we have at finding her.

"I'm on it!" Dash bellowed and rocketed into the air.

"What should the rest of us do?" Applejack wanted to know.

"For now let's just concentrate on protecting the residents of Ponyville and rescuing Dinky."

"That's a pretty adaptive plan, Sugarcube."

"Let's also concentrate on not getting our flanks handed to us. Come on girls!" Twilight said and led the charge back towards the monster.

* * *

**Somewhere in Equestria…**

Flying high in the sky, but low enough that she could see the details of the ground, Rainbow Dash flew all over Equestria in the direction Derpy had left, following the road, believing Derpy was simple and sensible enough to follow the path. Conveniently for Rainbow Dash she found Derpy not too soon after she had left ponyville. As both a faster flyer and because Derpy had conserved her energy by walking most of the way, it took Dash less time to reach Derpy than it took Derpy to get where she was. The blonde Pegasus hadn't cut or groomed her mane in the last several weeks so it had gotten progressively longer to about Fluttershy's length in both directions.

She found Derpy in the middle of the road with a forest alongside one side of the road and an ocean on the other side with a guard rail to prevent ponies from simply falling into it. The path was lush with green grass on both sides of the dirt road itself and there was a tall mountain in the distance.

"Derpy!" she exclaimed and dove towards the ground. She landed in front of Derpy on the road and skidded to a halt. Derpy looked at her and walked right past her. Rainbow Dash galloped forward to get in front of her again. "Derpy you've gotta come back to Ponyville, everyone needs you!"

Derpy kept walking. "Ponyville only needs me to provide entertainment. If Pinkie Pie is the comedian then I'm the punch line," the blonde Pegasus said in a huff.

"That's not true," Dash stated, racing ahead of her again, "We really need your help."

Derpy continued to walk with a glare in her eye, still plenty mad. "Rainbow Dash I might be clumsy, but I'm not gullible."

She continued to walk. Rainbow Dash didn't follow after her. Instead she looked down to the side and put her forward right hoof on her left foreleg. "We…really hurt your feelings, huh?"

Derpy stopped walking. "Do you know how it feels to have everyone laugh at you, to be so embarrassed in front of a crowd of ponies while they all point their hooves and laugh at you?"

"Actually, I do," Rainbow Dash said and walked up alongside Derpy, "Why do you think I dropped out of flight school, it's cause other ponies were always picking on me for always crashing into things. Rainbow Crash. That was my nickname. How many ponies do you think laughed when you pulled me into the ground when you messed up city hall?"

Derpy's head sunk lower.

"Okay, bad example, maybe, but the point is?" Rainbow Dash said, walking closer, "Everypony laughs at everypony for being a screw-up in some form of another. What Clyde said was mean. I know his jokes really hurt you and I'm sorry for laughing at you, but it turns out he said those things to get you to leave Ponyville and you're the only one who can stop him. Dinky's been really worried about you all this time too and now he has her hostage. You don't belong in the circus. You're not a freak of nature. You're a citizen of Ponyville. So are you going to sulk about what happened and go run off and join the circus or are you going to come back to Ponyville?"

Derpy looked up at the sky. Rainbow Dash thought she had gotten through to her, but suddenly Derpy took off into the sky.

"Well fine!" Rainbow Dash shouted after her. "Go join the circus! Run away! It's not like we need you anyway!" She turned around only for a gust of wind to rush past her and for Derpy to be standing in front of her, mane back to normal size.

"Sorry, I just had to cut my mane. Lead the way Rainbow Dash!"

* * *

**Ponyville**

The situation had only gotten worse with time. The shadow was slowly consuming all of Ponyville as it devoured more and more muffins. Many ponies had already fled to the outskirts while a few brave ponies stayed to stave off the vicious thing.

On the ground, Twilight, Applejack, Big Macintosh and Rarity were all standing around and backing up while Pinkie Pie was wearing a ninja costume while standing on one hind leg and posing as one.

"This is bad y'all," Applejack stated.

As the shadows closed in around two other ponies trapped in the middle of the thick shadow, one an earth pony with a long black mane and a dusty brown coat, the other a unicorn with spikey blue hair and red sunglasses, the unicorn said to the earth pony: "Octavia, it's been an honor celebrating with you today." She then pulled out a mixing board and played some funeral trumpet music.

As the shadows surrounded Twilight and friends it looked like they were doomed.

But then, suddenly, the light of hope arrived in the form of a sonic rainboom that tore through the air and caused the creature to shrink momentarily as it was blinded by the bright light spectrum and shaken to its core. Octavia, and her friend Vinyl "DJ Pon-3" Scratch, then ran for the hills with the other ponies that had already managed to escape the oncoming apocalypse.

The shadows receeded away from Twilight and friends as Derpy landed triumphantly in front of them walking towards the shadow monster as she glared at it intensely. "Hey! You!" she shouted up at it. The monster turned to face her, the glare from Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom having worn off.

Dinky opened her eyes, having shut them in fear, looked down and saw Derpy standing there. "MOMMY!" she cried out to her in a cheerful voice.

The monster laughed, "Well, well, well if it isn't the wonky-eyed freak show."

"Call me what you want, but you've got three seconds, to let go of my little girl before I do things to you I swore I'd never to do anypony ever."

The monster just laughed at her, failing to believe Derpy could do anything to it.

Derpy continued to glare. "One," she scraped her hoof on the ground, "Two," the monster continued to laugh, "Two and a half," Derpy over counted, "Two and seven eights," and then without missing a beat she shouted, "Three!" Like a rocket, Derpy tore into the air and dove with a single hoof extended straight into the monster's center. It gasped and wheezed like a stallion that just got whacked between the hindquarters. Derpy followed up by pulling up sharply and bucking it at the base of its ear, sending it tumbling to the ground. Then with magnificent speed she bit its finger at a certain point and the monster recoiled and let Dinky fall, but Derpy caught Dinky with her back and triumphantly floated to the ground.

Derpy affectionately nuzzled Dinky against her as she held her in her hooves. She then put Dinky down as she faced Twilight. "Derpy, how did you do that? We've been trying to fight that thing since Rainbow Dash left to find you, but we've hit naught but shadow."

"It's like a magic eye puzzle," Derpy explained, "That creature is all covered in shadow, but it has a very thin structure hidden within it. I was able to see its points so I knew where I could attack it."

"A creature of shadow with a thin structure, I've heard of this before. This is a Grime Giant. They start off as just little parasites that latch onto other ponies, but eventually fall off. Then they take the shape and obtain the memories of the pony they were attached to. They get stronger by eating their favorite food and the type of food is different for every Grime Giant.

"Do they have a weakness?" Derpy asked.

"As a matter of fact they do and I know just how to take it out," Twilight said with a smirk, "Follow me Derpy!" She galloped away.

"Ah, hey, wait up!" Derpy said only to find that something was holding her back. Dinky was biting her tail again. Derpy smiled back and picked the little Filly up again and gave her a big hug. "I'm sorry for leaving. Things can go back to exactly how they were once we're done here."

Meanwhile, outside ponyville, almost every citizen had watched when Derpy gave the grime giant what for.

"Was that really Derpy?" Lyra asked, still in a little bit of shock.

"I've never seen that side of her before."

"Say what you will about her, but that Derpy is a good mother," another pony exclaimed.

"Look," the mayor cried, "The shadows are receding closer into town."

The citizens of ponyville went to go check it out as they clomped towards their home.

The Grime Giant, running low on energy after Derpy gave it a thorough lashing, crawled itself towards Sugar Cube Corner to get more muffins. It managed to break in, devour some muffins and grow again, but by the time it came back out Derpy was standing between it and the rest of ponyville, a good portion of it currently on fire. Old West showdown music would not be out of place given the glares each individual sent the other. All that was missing was a clump of rolling tumbleweed.

The Grime Giant looked at Derpy as she stood near her bubble machine. "Honestly, you and that bubble machine, when are you going to give up on that stupid thing? If it didn't work the first four hundred times it's never going to work."

"Tanis Edistallion once said: I didn't fail one thousand times. I learned one thousand ways not to make the light bulb," Derpy scratched her ear, "Or was that Alexcanter Gram Colt?"

"Bah! It matters not! I'll not give you the chance to use that infernal contraption!" The grime giant brought its arm down to crush Derpy, but she quickly picked up her tube and took a deep breath, she exhaled with all her might into the tube as the net over the hole expanded with sudsy soap. The net expanded out farther and farther until finally the desired effect was wrought. Normally this would be the time when a geyser of bubble soap would shoot out of the holes and cover Derpy and everything around her in slippery soap, but not today. Today, Derpy finally managed to pull off her bubble machine to do exactly what she wanted it to do and numerous bubbles exploded from the net in a bubble extravaganza. As they popped against the Grime giant's skin it began to dissolve him on contact.

"Twilight!" Derpy called to her.

Using her magic, Twilight grabbed hold of the bubbles and flung them at the Grime Giant until he was smaller than a newborn foal.

Derpy stood over him, glaring. "Now it's your turn to leave Ponyville and never come back." She picked the Grime Giant up in her teeth and took to the air before twirling in a circle at high speeds until she launched him over the horizon. "He's going…going…gone! Two points! No you see it now you don't!" Derpy declared.

The citizens of ponyville had seen it all. Despite how badly they had treated her, Derpy had saved their lives.

Together with Rainbow Dash, Derpy then collected some rain clouds to help put out the fires, but let Dash do all the work when all of the clouds she grabbed kept letting loose thunderbolts, making Rainbow Dash very reminiscent of the _last_ time Derpy helped with the weather.

When all the fires were put out, Twilight used some magic to help restore the damage to everyone's homes as best she could. When everything was calm, Derpy prepared to leave the scene, but Lyra called out to her.

"Derpy, wait!"

Derpy turned around with a tired look. Lyra was standing around with practically every pony in Ponyville.

"Derpy…we saw it all, you saved us…even though we treated you so badly. We're really sorry."

"You all should be!" Dinky said rushing towards her mother and standing by her. "Think of how much less damage would've been done if you hadn't chased Mommy out of Ponyville."

"We know Dinky," Bonbon spoke up, "And we all feel really terrible. We should've never judged you just because you act weird sometimes. We saw it all, we know just how much you care about Dinky. We'd never seen you like that before."

"The same as when you rushed out of the theater," Lyra continued, "You can be angry or hurt just like any other pony in Equestria."

"We're really, really, reeeeeaaaally sorry Derpy, can you ever forgive us?" Bonbon asked her.

"You guys really hurt me," Derpy said in a depressed tone, but then as soon as she said that she turned towards everyone, goofy smile upon her face and declared, "But what the hey, I've never been one to hold a grudge."

The ponies cheered as a mob rushed towards Derpy as they began tossing her in the air shouting her name.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Mr. Cake said, approaching the crowd as they let Derpy down. "But because of the rampage of that Grime Giant there are NO MUFFINS!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Everypony collectively went.

"But that's terrible!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "You can't have the Muffin Festival without Muffins! What are we going to do?"

"Of all the worst things to happen, this is THE! WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!" Rarity declared.

Suddenly however a joyful expression crossed Derpy's face. Within five minutes she returned with a large black safe that she dropped on the ground. "Ladies and Gentlecolts, I bring you," Derpy spun the lock and opened it, "MUFFINS!"

Everyone gasped with joy.

"But I thought that Grime Giant ate everything inside. Where were these?"

"I store all my leftover muffins in my basement that's why I keep it at refrigerator temperature. You never know when you're going to need a stockpile of muffins," Derpy declared.

"Wow Derpy didn't just save Ponyville," Minuette began.

"She saved the Muffin Festival too!" Berry Punch exclaimed.

"YEAH!" A large white, overly muscular Pegasus shouted.

Lyra and Bonbon walked up alongside Derpy smiling. "You know, we should hang out more often."

"Yeah and now that your bubble machine works, you should get that patented and make some money off of it," Bonbon suggested. "You can quit the entertainment job and we can hang out more."

"Awww, you guys are just being nice to me again," Derpy said.

"No, we really mean it this time, honest," Lyra told her.

"We didn't realize up till now what a cool mare you are, Derpy."

"Yeah, any Pegasus that can go hoof to claw with a beast like that is okay in my book," Lyra told her. She looked down at Dinky, "especially for their little one."

"All right then, yeah we should totally hang out some more," Derpy beamed.

"That's the spirit!" Bonbon cheered.

"Awesome!" Lyra added.

Twilight smiled with content as she turned around to look at Spike and began circling around him. "Spike, take a letter." The young dragon took out a scroll and quill. "Dear Princess Celestia…

* * *

**Present Day**

"…Today every pony in Ponyville learned a very important lesson about the way to treat others who are a little bizarre from the standard everypony. It's not right to mistreat another pony because they seem different or less intelligent than other ponies. And, just because a pony has a disability or isn't the same as every other pony doesn't mean they can't accomplish great things either. Derpy proved that today. She may be incredibly clumsy and have a very strange name with crossed eyes, but she's a normal pony just like everypony else. There are other ponies out there like here I'm sure who may be less well off than her and they too should know that what they have shouldn't let them be forced to be treated with such cruelty and that they aren't incapable of accomplishing great feats on their own or having a complete life. Derpy herself even does everything she does just to see Dinky smile, it's truly an inspiration to ponies everywhere. So as a lesson to me, to you, to Canterlot, to everypony, it's not okay to mistreat another pony and say cruel things about them. You have to love and tolerate. You have to treat everypony like everypony else because who knows what that pony cold be capable of when pushed into a corner too. This fiasco with Derpy taught us all something very important, a lesson all ponies should know and nopony should forget. Sincerely, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

Celestia smiled as she finished reading the letter again who knew how many times since she first received it. Twilight was right. It was important to treat everypony the same. Nopony should be treated differently or cruelly or looked down upon because they have a disability. Smiling again, Celestia returned to her throne, wondering how things might have been going on in Ponyville right about now.

* * *

**Ponyville**

As the alarm clock buzzed for eight-o-clock again, Derpy swiped at her alarm clock and broke it again. She pushed the window open to greet the day, but rather than declare a loud good morning simply floated gently down to the ground and saw Lyra and Bonbon marching up the road. "Hey girls," she smiled.

"Morning Derpy," they said in unison.

"You wanna join Dinky and me for Breakfast? I was going to make Pancakes and muffins!"

"Sounds delicious," Bonbon said, following Derpy inside her house.

"Could you make some coffee for me as well?" Lyra asked.

"Sure thing," Derpy stated.

At the end of breakfast, Derpy took Dinky to school as usual before heading off to the post office to start her day.

"Derpy, I need this package delivered to Carousel Boutique as soon as possible. It's not fragile, but don't drop it. It doesn't have the most secure cap and the bottle inside could open and leak everywhere."

"You got it, boss!" Derpy said taking the package where it belonged.

After a day at the post office, Derpy took a walk around Ponyville with Lyra and Bon Bon. They trio looked to see how some ponies were already using mass produced versions of Derpy's bubble machine, which Derpy had patented and was constantly getting checks in the mail for.

"See, I told you it was a good idea," Bonbon told her.

"Yeah, I'm glad I listened to you."

"What are friends for?" Lyra asked her.

For Derpy the entire day was just like this: blissful and serene, for real this time. And, of course at the end of the day, Derpy tucked Dinky into bed and kissed her goodnight. As she went for the light switch she heard the familiar call of, "Good night Mommy, I love you."

Derpy looked over her shoulder back into the room, "I love you too Dinky. And I always will, no matter what."

**END**

* * *

**(A/N: Cue credits. So yeah this is rather short, I'm sure it could be expanded upon if it was an actual movie, but hey at least I have it written and out of my head. Now to close, to clarify, I **_**know **_**that no one with a disability would be able to so conveniently be able to be accepted by doing something of such grandeur. That's not the point. The point is that just because you have a disability, if you have one, doesn't mean you should take it lying down. And if you're socially awkward and people are laughing behind your back don't let them get to you. Be like Dinky, stand your ground. True, Derpy's quickness to forgive and forget is somewhat unrealistic, but I myself have never been one to hold to grudge and I envision her experience sort of like how some of mine were in primary school when I was much more naïve and willing to trust, but hey that's MLP for you. And, as the final point should be perfectly clear: once you've reached your goals, whatever they may be, your life is just fine. I don't think I need to repeat Twilight's letter so I won't. So please comment and review, I would love your feedback on this).**


End file.
